NFL Week 1 Power Rankings

Week 1 NFL Power Ranks

We are currently living in one of the greatest times to be alive. What time you ask? The time when the NFL season is underway. Like most of America I am enamored with professional football. So much so in fact, that I will be ranking all 32 teams each week from best to worst. I will do my damnedest to put this column out every Tuesday night. You should probably make note of that. You don' want to miss all the fun. Without further ado let's get in to my inaugural rankings for the 2012 season.

1. New England Patriots (1-0) Stevan Ridley ran for 125 yards and a score in the season opener which equaled the number of 100-yard rushing games by a Patriots back in 2011.

2. San Francisco 49ers (1-0) They fell just short of a Super Bowl berth last year which could have put a cherry on top of their magical out of nowhere season. With a week 1 victory in Green Bay the 49ers are out to prove they were no fluke.

3. Atlanta Falcons (1-0) I was really high on the Falcons coming into this season. High enough to make Matt Ryan my starting fantasy quarterback. With 299 yards passing and four total TD's in the opener he, and the Falcons, did not disappoint.

4. Baltimore Ravens (1-0) Joe Flacco almost matched Matt Ryan by throwing for 299 and two scores of his own in a big week 1 victory. Joe Flacco also has Ray Rice. The Ravens will be very scary this year after narrowly missing a Super Bowl berth in 2011.

5. Chicago Bears (1-0) Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall have been reunited. In their first game back together? Nine catches, 119 yards and a score. There may be offense in Chicago this year.

6. Houston Texans (1-0) Houston made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history last year. With all their skill players back healthy they have a clear path in the weak AFC South.

7. Green Bay Packers (0-1) You may be wondering why a team that lost is ranked so high when there are 16 teams who actually won this weekend. Well, it isn't necessarily about wins and losses. Especially since the Packers had only one last year.

8. Denver Broncos (1-0) Peyton Manning appears to be back. If Denver could make the playoffs last year with Tim Tebow running the show they should be just fine with a bona fide hall of famer taking the snaps.

9. Dallas Cowboys (1-0) Dallas shocked me by taking out the reigning champs in the season opener. That said Dallas always looks like they could be a contender until they ultimately disappoint. For now, they deserve the high ranking.

10. Washington Redskins (1-0) Robert Griffin III had one of the greatest debuts ever by throwing for 320 yards and two TD's in a road victory in New Orleans. The 40 points the Skins' put up were more than they did any time last year.

11. Pittsburgh Steelers (0-1) The Steelers started this year like the ended last year: with a loss in Denver. They should still contend for a postseason berth despite the opening loss.

12. New York Giants (0-1) They may have lost at home but it was too a good divisional rival and they are, after all, the champs. Gotta at least put them in the top 12 playoff bracket.

13. Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) Twelve penalties. Five turnovers. Playing on the road. What do the Eagles do? Squeak out a win. Somehow.

14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) Tampa ended last year on a 10-game losing streak. They started this year by upending phenom Cam Newton and the upstart Carolina Panthers.

15. New York Jets (1-0) The Jets looked terrible in the preseason. Proving once again that the preseason means nothing they throttled the Buffalo Bills for 48 points.

16. Detroit Lions (1-0) Like the Eagles the Lions barely escaped with a win over an inferior team. They will need to be a lot better if a return trip to the playoffs is on their wish list.

17. San Diego Chargers (1-0) An ugly win on Monday night. It had more to do with pitiful special teams from the Oakland Raiders than anything the Chargers did.

18. New Orleans Saints (0-1) With all the drama surrounding the Saints this offseason they really needed to start off with a win. They still put up 32 points though. They should be fine.

19. Arizona Cardinals (1-0) John Skelton won the starting QB job in the preseason and promptly got injured in the opener. Enter Kevin Kolb who drove Arizona to the game winning TD. Talk about role reversal from a few years ago.

20. Minnesota Vikings (1-0) Last Christmas Eve Adrian Peterson tore up his knee in a pretty serious fashion. Sunday he ran for two scores and looked just fine. Beast mode.

21. Cincinnati Bengals (0-1) The Bengals may have been blown out by Baltimore but they looked good hanging tough in the first half. Losing on the road to a very good divisional opponent is not the worst thing in the world.

22. Carolina Panthers (0-1) The Panthers can only hope that their Super Bowl boast does not haunt them like it did the Eagles last year.

23. Kansas City Chiefs (0-1) A lot of people think KC will win their division this year. The Falcons and myself are not among those people.

24. Seattle Seahawks (0-1) They were four yards away from a win Sunday. The big question is what do they do at quarterback since they are starting rookie Russell Wilson after throwing a lot of money at Matt Flynn in free agency.

25. Tennessee Titans (0-1) Haven't seen The Hurt Locker? It is not playing in Tennessee as Jack Locker had to leave the game with a shoulder injury.

26. St. Louis Rams (0-1) They came agonizingly close to a major upset against the Lions. Jeff Fisher has this team playing like they didn't finish 2-14 last year.

27. Oakland Raiders (0-1) If they can get a full year from Carson Palmer and Darren McFadden the Raiders should be ok.

28. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1) Maurice Jones-Drew is back. For the Jags to approach respectability they need another big year from their diminutive runner.

29. Buffalo Bills (0-1) The Bills, a sexy playoff prediction, were blown out by the previously horrific looking Jets and lost star runner Fred Jackson for about a month.

30. Cleveland Browns (0-1) I think they will finish near the bottom of the league this year, but they did put a scare into the Eagles which puts them at #30 for now.

31. Indianapolis Colts (0-1) Andrew Luck put up surprisingly similar numbers to Peyton Manning in his NFL debut. If he continues to follow suit the Colts will be a force again soon.

Comments

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AUTHOR

Rich

6 years agofrom Pennsylvania

Thanks for the comment! I am also very high on the Ravens this year and the niners look like the class of the NFC so far. The season is young but the Harbaughs could meet up in the Super Bowl they both fell a game short of last year.

SuperBowlDeals

6 years agofrom New Albany, Indiana

Nice write up! I like the Ravens and 49'ers a lot this year. Alex Smith continues to improve and having a more well rounded receiving corps is going to work wonders for him!

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